Waste disposer



July 13, 1955 T. F. sPAcKMAN 3,194,505

WASTE DISPOSER Filed Sept 10. 1962 4 sheets-sheet 1 10 fz ff T. F- SPACKMAN WASTE DISPOSER July 13, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. l0, 1962 INVENTOR. WW twiki/dond 'Z'/PJVZY;

July 13, 1955 T. F. SPACKMAN 3,194,505

WASTE DISPOSER Filed sept. 1o, 1962 4 sheets-sheet s 1N VENTOR.

July 13, 1965 T. F. sPAcKMAN WASTE DISPOSER Filed Sept. 10, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 HAMMER INVENTOR.

United States PatentO Hee. med M, ,3, ,5

3,194,505 WASTE DISFOSER Thomas F. Spackman, Louisville, Ky., assigner to Ameri- This invention relates to waste disposers of the type used in the kitchens ofhouses and apartments, and it is directed in particular to improved comminuting elements for such disposers.

Atypical waste disposer of the prior art comprises a cast body which is configurated to provide a drain, a motor mounted beneath the cast body which has a drive shaft projecting up through the center of the cast body, and an impeller disc which is adapted to be driven by the motor. ing the disc and it defines, with the disc, the grinding chamber into which waste is placed for disposal. The disc carries a pair of hammers and they cooperate with teeth or cutters mounted upon the wall of thev casing to grind or cut the waste into particles of a size to pass safely through the drain line.

For grinding purposes the hammers must be held in extended positions in close proximity to the cutters, but some means must be provided to permit the hammers to move inwardly toward the center of the disc and away from the cutters when a hard piece of waste such as a bone is encountered, otherwise the disposer becomes jammed. It is toward this problem of maintaining the hammers in extended positions under normal operating conditions, but permitting them to move inwardly when a hard piece of waste is encountered, that the present invention is directed in part.

A number of solutions to this problem have been offered in the past. One solution has been to pivot the hammers on the disc so that they swing out into positions adjacent the cutters under the action of the centrifugal force created by the rotation of the disc, but swing in away from the cutters against this force when a hard object is encountered. Obviously, if centrifugal force alone is to be relied upon, the hammers must have suiiicient mass to remain in effective cutting positions during normal operating conditions. Otherwise expressed, the larger the hammer, the greater its mass, the better it remains in extended position under the action of centrifugal force. However, the size of a hammer is not the criterion of its cutting efficiency. Its shape, the cutting edges that it presents to the cutters on the wall of the casing and other factors contribute, and it is found that hammers above a particular size range are inefficient. The solution to the problem has been approached in this invention from the viewpoint of substantially increasing the mass of each of the hammers, but distributing and balancing the mass such that the parts of the hammers exposed to waste are within a size range for efficient cutting.

One of the objectives of this invention, therefore, has been to provide an impeller disc for a waste disposer having hammers of greater mass than previous hammers so that they are more effectively maintained in extended, grinding positions by centrifugal force, and, importantly, to do this without increasing the size of those parts of the hammers exposed to waste.

In the fulfillment of this objective, the hammers of this invention comprise two integral parts, one of which is above the disc to act as a cutter, and the other one of which is below the cutter to act as a counter-balance for A casing is mounted atop the cast body surroundthe upper part and to add mass to the hammer. These two parts are joined by a short journal which is pivotally mounted in the disc so that the hammer is free to swing about a vertical axis paralleling the axis of rotation of the disc.

A further objective has been to provide an impeller disc having hammers which are easily removable and replaceabie by a person of little skill.

Another objective has been to prov'ide a hammer of the type set forth which may be fabricated either as a casting or which may be fabricated from sheet metal.

Another objective has been to provide an impeller disc having pivoted hammers which are journalled on bearing surfaces of substantially greater area than those in the past so that the forces placed upon the bearing surfaces are spread, thereby minimizing Wear.

Other objectives and features of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the drawings in which:

'FIGURE 1 is a side view, with the upper part in section, of a waste disposer incorporating the principles of the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a cross sectional View taken on the line 2--2 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 illustrating the manner in which the hammers may be removed from the disc.

FIGURE 4 is an explo-ded View showing, from left to right, a plan View of a keeper plate which is employed'to lock the hammers in place in the disc, a plan view of a hammer, and a bolt which is employed to fasten the keeper plate in place.

- FIGURE 5 is a top plan view of a hammer of slightly modified form.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged side View of a hammer, incorporating the principles of this invention, which is fabricated from sheet metal.

FIGURE 7 is a top plan view of the hammer of FIG- URE 6, the view being taken on the line 7-7 of FIG- URE 6.

FIGURE 8 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 8 8 of FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 9 is a top plan view showing an impeller disc of two of the hammers of the type illustrated in FIGURE 6 in place.

FIGURES l0 and 11 are diagrammatic views illustrating a hammer of the present invention in FIGURE li) and a hammer of the prior art in FIGURE 1l.

The disposer which is illustrated in FIGURE l is adapted to be suspended, in conventional manner, from a sink sleeve iti by means of a vibration absorbing mount lill of the type disclosed in Hyde Patent 2,965',- l319. The drain sleeve seats a stopper I?. and it has a rubber ranti-splash' guard i3 within it just beneath the stopper. vThe disposer shown -is enclosed within a housing consisting of an upper shell 14 and `a lower shell 15, these two shells being -secured to one another by means of a locking ring .lo which may be similar to that disclosed in Hyde Patent 2,977,054. The centra-l part of the disposer comprises ka cast body 17 which is circular as viewed from above. A motor (not shown) is mounted beneath this cast body and a motor shaft I8 projects up through the center yof the body, being journalled in suitable bearing-s and being provided with a water-proof seal 19. The upper part of the cast body is congurated to providea drain 2i) which may -be similar in shape to that disclosed in Hydev Patent 2,981,488. A portion only of a tail piece 2i lis shown, this ltail piece being f .o adapted t-o be connected Ito a drain line in conventional manner.

The impeller disc of this invention is designated gen- Verally by the numeral 22 and it is keyed to the upper end of drive shaft 13 so that it resides immediately above drain 20. A cutter ring 23 surrounds the impeller, being mounted in the lower part of a casing 24 which, with the impeller, defines the grinding chamber into which waste 'is placed for disposal. In the instance shown, the casing 24 is of cast construction, however, it may be madeV of sheet metal if desired. As shown, the upper .part of cast body 17 is congurated to provide an internal, annular shoulder 25 surrounding drain Ztl. This Yshoulder seats -a flange 26 which is turned outwardly from the lower end of cutter ring 23. A rubber sealing ring 27 seats immediately upon top' of the outwardly turned flange 26. This rubber ring is also seated within a rabbet 28 which is cut into the lower, outer edge of the casing 24 such that the lower rim of the casing as shown at 29 rests immediately upon the outwardly turned ange 26. In the instance shown, the casing is held onto cast body 17 by means of a series of spring clips, only one of which is shown at 30. The lower ends of these spring clips are engaged in suitable notches within the wall of the cast .body and the upper endsare engaged .upon shoulders such as the one shown at 3l' which are formed on the outside a; steel plate, rectangular as viewed from above, and having an ear 4I bent upwardly from each of its outer ends.

of the casing 24. Immediately above the cutter ring'23,

vCutter ring 23 preferably is formed from stainless steel and hardened. The cutter ring starts as a flat strip of sheet metal and the teeth are formed by cutting slots 33 in this strip, the slots leaving Vsolid edges of metal along both edges of the strip which may be seen at 34-34 in FIGURE l. As shown, the teeth which are designated 35 inFIGURE 1, are slanted such that they make an angle of approximately l5 degrees with respect to 4the vertical. A downwardly facing groove 36 is provided within the casing just to the youtside of the slanting face 32 and the upper edge of the cutter ring iits up into this slot. Also as shown in FIGURE l, two of the teeth are cut off as shown at 37, the cut being made at a level being slightly above the edge of the impeller. It is found that in grinding some hard pieces of waste, such as bones, they tend to form into balls which continue to roll around the cutter ring. The absence of teeth at the point shown upsets this rolling action so that the particles are broken up. It also may be seen in FIGURE l that the slots in between teeth 35 extend down to a point below the impeller so that the spaces provided by the slots dene the maximum sizes of waste particles that may pass into the drain line.

The impeller 22 is formed from stainless steel plate,

and as shown, it is circular. The major area of the disc is flat. The central area is depressed, as shown, by an amount to bring its upper surface down to a level slightly below that of an under surface of the outer annular area of the disc. The disc is provided with holes such as those indicated 3S which permit water to drain readily through the impeller disc. At four points around the periphery of the disc the edge is lanced on radial lines 39 and the metal adjacent to the lanced lines depressed angularly to provide an edge which projects below the under surface of the ,disc in the direction of rotation thereof as shown by the arrow in FIGURE 2. The projecting edges provide cutting surfaces which cooperate.

keeper plate.

These Vears serve as kickers to prevent pieces of waste, such as grapefruit halves, from remaining in the center of thek impeller during a grinding operation. Inasmuch as stainless steel plate material is rather dicult to machine, a softer metal is employed for an insert 42, residing within a hole cut through the center, and being swaged in placer and then threaded vfor engagement with the threads 43 which are on the upper end of the motor shaft.

There are two slots V44-44 cut through impeller disc at opposite sides of its center. These slots generally are longer than wide with their long axes being on chord lines. The leading ends Vof the slots,.which are diametrically opposite one another, are squared off. However, the other ends of the slots are semi-circular and these ends trail with respect to the direction KVof rotation of the impeller disc.'` These semi-circular `ends-are designated 45 and they provide bearing in-which cutter hammers, designated generally by the numeral 46, reside. As shown, the slots in both instances are Ywithin the outer annular area of the disc which is raised with respect to the central portion'. However, iiat land areas 47,' shown in FIGURE 3, extend from the depressed central area -to the inner edges of slots 44, these fiat land areas ac,-

mers 46-46 in place withinthe two slots 44-44 For Y this purpose, the ykeeper plate has two lock tabs at its opposite ends which are of a shape to fit into the two slots and presenting arcuate, concave surfaces SI-SI-'toward the semi-circular ends 45 of the slots to define with them substantially continuous circular bearings for the hammers. Keeper plate 50 is fiat and the arms 43-49 rest on the flat .land areas 47 such that the raised area of the disc at the sides of the slots serve .to locate and seat the notched as at SlaSIa to accommodate the'ears 4I-41 ofthe nut assembly 4t). Additionally, the center of the plate has a bore -through it which is countersunk to accommodate the head of a bolt 52 which threads down into a tapped bore at the-end of the motor shaft, this locking formed from sheet metal.

the keeper plate in place. Y

V-Two different kinds of hammers, both of which incorporate the principles of this invention are illustrated in the drawings, One is of cast construction and the other is The one formed of cast metal will be described iirst. As shown in FIGURES l and 4, a cast hammer comprises an upper part 53 and a lower part 54, the two being connected by ka short neck or journal 55 which is circular in cross section. This journal is just slightly longer than the thickness of the plate material from which the impeller disc is made. The upper part of the hammer is substantially higher at the outer end than at the inner end thereof where the journal or neck 55 is located. The central area of the upper surface of ltheV hammer may be plain as shown at 56. However,

the two side areas of thetooth are cut to provide teeth S7-57 which are in the form of steps going up toward the outer end of the hammer. The lower part of the hammer comprises essentially a counter-balance forthe upper part and thus, it consists of a plain arm which projects radially from journal 53. There is an important consideration here, however, the'arm is off-set with respect to the upper part of the hammer as will be explained. The outer ends of both the upper part and the lower part of the hammer are arcuate with these surfaces being centered upon the vertical axis of the journal 55. If desired, and as shown in FIG. 5, the outer edge of the lippen part 53 of the hammer may have a hardened tool steel insert SSplaced therein. This is the edge` which in a'waste disposal operation is presented to the teeth of the cutter ring. Additionally, ifV desired, the outer end of the` lower part of the hammer may be coniigurated to provide a protuberance 59 at the side thereof toward which the Thetwo sides of the upper plate are disc moves when rotating. This protuberance adds metal, and thereby increases the mass of the hammer as a whole.

As best shown in FIGURE 3, the lower part 54 of the hammer just fits a slot in the impeller disc. Thus, to install the cast hammers in the disc, the lower part of each one is rst placed in the slot with the journal or neck 55 residing in the bearing provided by the semi-circular end 45 of the slot and then the hammer turned so that the upper part 53 thereof extendsv radially. When this has been done, the keeper plate may be laid in place and secured by bolt 52. This locks both hammers within their bearings so that they are free to swing around vertical axes which parallel the axis of the impeller itself. This arrangement of parts also permits the ready replacement of hammers in the event of wear or breakage.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the mass of the upper part of thev hammer above the journal 55 fairly closely approximates that below the journal. Thus, when the hammer is in place within its bearing, and in the extended position shown in FIGURE l, its mass is in balance along two planes, one of which passes through the vertical central axis of the journal and through the vertical central axis of the impeller disc, plus a plane which passes through the journal horizontally, normal to its vertical axis.

Reference is now made to FIGURES l0 and 1l. These are diagrammatic views showing respectively a hammer of this invention and a hammer of the prior art. The two views illustrate the advantages of the off-set relationship that exists between the upper part 53 and the lower part 54 of the hammer. When the hammer is in extended position due to the centrifugal force of the rotating disc, the center of mass of the hammer is on a radial line passing through the vertical axis of the pivot for the hammer and the vertical axis about which the disc is rotating. The face of the hammer is formed on a radius centered on the pivotal axis of the hammer. As shown in FIGURE 11, a hammer 60 of conventional design, which also has the face which is presented to cutters rounded on a radius centered on the pivot of the hammer, a space exists between the leading edge of the hammer and the arc which represents the outer edge of the disc and the line upon which the cutters are arranged about the disc. It is found that fragments of bones and other small hard objects jam in this space. This is avoided in the hammer of the type illustrated in FIGURE because the lower part of the hammer is oit-set from the upper part in the direction of rotation of the disc, which causes the upper part of the hammer to assume the posi,

tion shown to present its leading edge to the cutters. As viewed from above and as shown in FIGURE l0 there is some overlap between the leading edge of the upper part of the hammer and the trailing edge of the lower part of the hammer. This relationship is preferred over one in which these two edges coincide at the outer end of the hammer, because it is found that the upper part of the hammer lags slightly from the position shown in FIGURE l() due to the resistance of the waste and water that are in the comminuting chamber during a disposal operation. The significant factor is that the leading edge of the hammer, at the outer end thereof, is on or closely adjacent to the plane which passes through the center of the disc and the pivot of the hammer. This plane also coincides with the center of the mass of the hammer when it is in extended postion due to the action of centrifugal force upon it. What the hammer construction of this invention does is to bring the leading edge of the pivoted hammer into close proximity or into coincidence withnthis plane. Or, otherwise expressed, the center of mass of the hammer closely coincides with a vertical line at the outer end of the hammer which is closely adjacent to the leading edge, which is the cutting edge, of the outer end of the upper part of the hammer.

6 Reference is now made to FIGURES 6-9 which illustrate a modified form of hammer construction which is formed from sheet metal. In these iigures, a sheet metal hammer is designated generally by the numeral 61 and it compris-es essentially an upper part 62 and a lower part 63, which parts are joined by a barrel 64 which provides a journal for the hammer, being receivable in the bearing end of the keeper plate 50. Barrel 64 is formed by provided between an end 45 of a slot 44 and the adjacent wrapping the sheet metal material around a suitable mandrel such that the barrel comprises a hollow cylinder as shown in FiGURES 7 and 8. The lower part 63 of the hammer is formed from two rectangular arms which initially project from the barrel section. However, these arms are doubled over upon themselves as illustrated in FIGURE 8 to provide rounded outer ends 65-65 which reside at the opposite sides of a radial plane passing through the vertical central axis of the barrel. Thus, the lower part 63 consists of four thicknesses of the sheet metal material. One side only of upper part 6,2, which is the side opposite that against which waste impinges, is doubled over in the same way that the two halves of the bottom part are doubled over and in this instance, a rounded outer end 66 is provided where the sheet metal material is doubled back upon itself. The other half of the upper part is a single thickness of metal which comes out to a sharp edge 67 which is presented to the cutter ring 23. Thus, as in the case of the cast hammer construction, the center of mass of the lower part 62 is displaced ahead of the center of mass of the upper part in the direction of rotation of the impeller disc. Also, as in the case of the cast construction, the outer end of the upper part is substantially higher than the inner end thereof so that the barrel is joined to the upper part by a slanting surface 68. It; is preferred that hammer 61 be formed of hardened, stainless steel, heavy sheet stock. Additionally, if desired, the mass of this modified form of hammer may be increased by doubling the metal over more times than is shown in'FIGURES 7 and 8; but here, as in the case of cast construction, the center of mass of the lower part must lead the center of mass upper part in the direction of rotation of the disc and in the extended position of the sheet metal hammer the same relationship illustrated in FIGURE 10 must exist so that the sharp edge 67 on the leading side of the upper part 62 is presented to the cutters in the critical area to which reference is made in FIGURE 10.

Other modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and I do not therefore desire to limit myself to what has been specifically shown and described except as such limitations occur in the following claims.

Having described my invention, I claim: l. A hammer for a waste disposer having an impeller disc therein, said hammer comprising:

an upper part and a lower part joined by an integral,

cylindrical journal, I

said upper part and said lower part spaced vertically by a distance slightly greater than the thickness of said impeller disc,

means providing a bearing for said journal in said disc such that said upper part resides above said disc and said lower part resides below said disc,

and said upper and lower parts extending radially from one side of said journal but being offset with respect to one another such that under the action of the centrifugal force resulting from the rotation of the disc, the lower part leads the upper part by an amount to place the center of mass of said upper and lower parts adjacent to a plane through the axis of said journal and the leading edge of said upper part at the outer end thereof.

2. A hammer for a waste disposer of the type having a circular impeller disc and a cutter ring surrounding said disc, said hammer comprising,

an upper part, a lower part and an integral, cylindrical journal connecting said parts,v means providing a bearing for said journal in said disc on an Vaxis paralleling the axis of rotation of said disc and located generally half-Way between the center of the disc and the Outer edge thereof, the journal of said hammer seated in said bearing with said upper partabove said disc and said lower part below said disc, and said upper part and said lower part being relatively offset with respect to one another'such that under the action of centrifugal force due to the rotation of said disc, the lower part leads the upper part in the direction of rotation of said disc by an amount to place the center of the combined masses of said upper and lower parts in a vertical plane which passes through the center of the disc, the central axis of the journal and closely adjacent to the leading edge of the outer end of said upper part. 3. A hammer for a wasterdisposer of the type having a circular impeller disc and a cutter ring surrounding said disc, said hammer comprising, Y

an upper part, lower part and an integral, cylindrical journal connecting said parts, means providing a bearing for said journal in said disc on an axis paralleling the axis of rotation of said disc and located generally half-way between the center of the disc and the outer edge thereof, said hammer seated in said bearing with said upper part above said disc and said lower part below said disc, and the respective upper and lower parts extending radially generally one above the other from one side of said journal but being oifset with respect to one another such that under the action ofV centrifugal force due to the rotation of said disc, the outer end of the trailing edge of said lower part is beneath the outer end of the leading edge of said upper part. 4. A hammer for a waste disposer of the type having a circular impeller disc therein, said hammer comprising, an upper part, a lower part and an integral, cylindrical journal connecting said parts, said upper and lower parts being spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the thickness of said im-v peller disc, and said upper and lower parts extending radially from said journal in offset relation such that the trailing edge of the lower part at the outer end thereof closely approximates being underneath the leading edge of the upper part at the outer end thereof. 5. A hammer for a waste disposer having an impeller disc therein and acutter ring surrounding said impeller disc, said hammer comprising,

an upper part, a lower part and an integral, cylindrical journal joining said parts, said upper part and said lower part spaced vertically by a distance slightly greater than the thickness of` said impeller disc,

means providing a bearing for said journal in saiddisc such that said upper part resides above said disc and said lower part resides below said disc,

and said upper and lower parts extending radially with respect to the central axis of said journal with the leading edge of said lower part being spaced substantially ahead of the leading edge of said upper part in the direction of rotation of said disc.

6. A hammer as set forth inY claim in which said upper and lower parts and said journal are of intgeral cast metal construction. i

7. A hammer as set forth in claim 5 in which said S upper and lower parts and-said journal are of` sheet metal construction with said journal being a hollow cylinder.

S. A hammer for a waste disposer having an impeller disc therein, said hammer comprising', .Y Y Y' an upper part, a lower part and an integral, cylindrical journal joining said parts, i

said upper and lower parts spaced apart a distance slightly greater thanthe thickness of said impeller disc, Y

means providing a bearing forsaid journal in said disc on a vertical axis which is parallel tothe axis of rotation of said disc such that said upper part resides above said discV and'said lower part resides below said disc,

said upper and lower parts extending radially to ap proximately the same extent from the same side of said journal, Y

and the total mass of said hammer being distributed approximately equally between said upper part and said lower part such that the centrifugal force on the hammer resulting from rotation of the'disc is .approximately balanced betweenV said upper and lower parts. f Y j 9. A hammer for a wastedisposer having an impeller disc therein, said hammer comprising,

a cylindrical journal' .and an upperv partand a lower part formed as an integral part of said journal and extending generally radially therefrom but with the upper part being offset with respect to said lower part,

means providing a bearing for said journal in said disc such that said upper part resides above the disc and said lower part'resides below the disc, the mass of said upper part being approximately equal to the mass of said lower part,

and the combined masses of said upper part and said lower part being disposed such that upon rotation of the disc they are centered upon a plane which passes radially through said journal, the center of said disc and the edge at the outer end of said upper part which faces in the direction the disc rotates.

10. A hammer for a waste disposer having an impeller disc therein, said hammer'formed of sheet'metal and comprising, Y

a hollow, cylindrical journal with upper and lower parts extending from one sidefof said journal in spaced relation to define a slot between said parts slightly wider than the thickness of said impeller disc, means providing a bearing for said journal in said disc such that said upper part resides abover said disc and said lower part resides below the disc, the mass of said upper part :being approximately equal to the'mass of said lower part, said lower part comprising at least Vtwo doubled thicknesses of sheet metal,

said upper part comprising at least one doubled thickness of metal plus a single thickness of metal and presenting a sharp edge at the outer end thereof the direction of rotation of said disc, and said lower part thereof presenting a leading face which is offset with respect to said sharp edge in the direction of rotation of said disc. 1l. A hammer for a waste disposer of the type having a circular impellerdisc therein, said hammer comprising, an upper part, a lower part land an integral, cylindrical journal connecting said parts, said upper part congurated to provide cutting surfaces, l and said upper Vand lower parts being spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the thickness of said impeller disc and extending radially from said journal to approximately the same extent and generally toward the same side thereof. 12. A hammer for a waste disposer of the -type'having 9 10 a circular impeller disc therein, said hammer comprising, References Cited by the Examiner an upper part, a lower part and a journal connecting UNITED STATES PATENTS rt Saud pa s 848,213 3/07 spurgin 241-194 said upper and lower parts being spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the thickness of said impeller 5 310051596 10/61 Jenkmsdisc and extending radially to approximately the same extent generally from the same side of said I' SPENCER OVERHOLSER Primary Examiner journal. EDWARD I MICHAEL, Examiner. 

11. A HAMMER FOR A WASTE DISPOSER OF THE TYPE HAVING A CIRCULAR IMPELLER DISC THEREIN, SAID HAMMER COMPRISING AN UPPER PART, A LOWER PART AND AN INTEGRAL, CYLINDRICAL JOURNAL CONNECTING SAID PARTS, SAID UPPER PART CONFIGURATION TO PROVIDE CUTTING SURFACES, AND SAID UPPER AND LOWER PARTS BEING SPACED APART A DISTANCE SLIGHTLY GREATER THAN THE THICKNESS OF SAID IMPELLER, DISC AND EXTENDING RADIALLY FROM SAID JOURNAL TO APPROXIMATELY THE SAME EXTENT AND GENERALLY TOWARD THE SAME SIDE THEREOF. 